Year: 2025, Number: 4, Pages: 77-109
Information is provided on the first Russian scientific circumnavigation of the globe, conducted under the command of Otto Evstafievich Kotzebue in 1815–1818 on the brig “Rurik”, as well as the circumnavigation conducted under his command in 1823–1826 on the sloop “Predpriyatie”. These expeditions marked the beginning of systematic geographical and oceanographic observations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The main attention is paid to the studies of the nature and population of Chukotka, Alaska, California, Polynesia and Micronesia. The role of Kotzebue in exposing the harmful practices of European and American colonizers and missionaries towards the natives of California and Oceania is shown in comparison with the peaceful policy of the Russian-American Company and Orthodox priests towards the native population of Alaska.